Akira (Live Action - 2009)

Keanu Reeves Circling Warner Bros.' Akira (Exclusive) Albert Hughes is set to direct the English-language, live-action take on the landmark anime and manga property.Source: THR

Akira, the English-language, live-action take on the landmark anime and manga property, is zeroing in on its star, and it just might be Keanu Reeves. Warner Bros. has been having a tough time finding the two leads of the movie, to be directed by Albert Hughes. In the script, the action moves from Neon-Tokyo to New Manhattan, where a biker gang leader tries to save his best friend from a medical experiment that threatens to unleash destructive powers. Actors ranging from James Franco and Joseph Gordon-Levitt to Robert Pattinson and Michael Fassbender have circled the project in some form or fashion as the studio sought to find an A-list lead. Now comes word that Reeves has held talks with the studio, with whom he already made the massively successful Matrix movies, for the part of Kaneda, the gang leader. Reeves doesn't yet have an offer for the role, but we hear the talks with his reps have been going well. Reeves anchoring the project could serve as a strong lure for another A-lister to take the role of Tetsuo, the best friend. Andrew Lazar is producing with Appian Way's Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Davisson Killoran. Reeves, repped by CAA and 3 Arts Entertainment, is currently shooting the samauri action pic 47 Ronin for Universal.

“Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art.” - Andy Warhol

Menace II Society and Dead Presidents are really, really good movies. Every after has been pretty bad. What happened to them?

They're better with material they help originate and characters whose lives they have working knowledge of? I also like American Pimp. But there seems to be some faulty connection, some obstructed pathway, between them and their imaginations, and that's what worries me.

Because Akira is a batshit nuts anime, part of its charm is how outrageous it is, and I'd love to see it in the hands of a director whom I could trust to unleash unbounded energy and creativity, qualities I don't really associate with the Hughes brothers.

And it's not even Keanu's acting chops that bother me. He's just too old, period.

“If I had to hold up the most heavily fortified bank in America,” Bolaño says, “I’d take a gang of poets. The attempt would probably end in disaster, but it would be beautiful.”

Because Akira is a batshit nuts anime, part of its charm is how outrageous it is, and I'd love to see it in the hands of a director whom I could trust to unleash unbounded energy and creativity, qualities I don't really associate with the Hughes brothers.

Since there would be a huge amount of money behind this, I imagine that the batshitness of the film will be toned down lest it alienate mainstream audiences.

EXCLUSIVE: The twists and turns on the Warner Bros adaptation of anime artist Katsuhiro Otomo’s graphic novel Akira continue. Director Albert Hughes is exiting the movie, I’m told. Insiders say that it is an amicable creative differences parting of the ways. Warner Bros will try to put him on another movie right away (Hughes and his brother Allen directed the hit The Book of Eli, and WB topper Jeff Robinov is their former agent and is very close with them). Hughes is coming to Hollywood next week to take meetings with his WME reps and look at scripts, hoping to find his next movie at Warner Bros. As for Akira, the intention of the studio is to keep the picture on a fast track, which means they will find a director quickly. The studio has been wrestling with the approach on the film for the past year. Last March, Warner Bros put together a short list of up-and-coming actors after getting a strong rewrite by Steve Kloves that set the film in a rebuilt New Manhattan, where a leader of a biker gang saves his friend from a medical experiment. At the time, Robert Pattinson, Andrew Garfield and James McAvoy were given the script for the role of Tetsuo, and Garrett Hedlund, Michael Fassbender, Chris Pine, Justin Timberlake and Joaquin Phoenix were courted for Kaneda. The two leads were expected to come from that group of actors. Then, the studio had a change of heart and, given the budget, wanted to have an established box office star in the movie. That led to a flirtation with Keanu Reeves that ended recently. Warner Bros is back to the other plan, and will likely go back to that list of actors in hopes of making the picture later this year or early next. Andrew Lazar is producing with Appian Way’s Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Davisson Killoran. Akira has been one of Warner Bros' high-priority projects since the studio with Legendary Pictures acquired it for a seven-figure sum two years ago from manga publisher Kodansha. The intention has been to make two films, each covering three books in the series. Akira was first adapted for the screen in 1988.

“Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art.” - Andy Warhol

Despite being a bad movie, Jaume Collet-Serra’s Unknown raked in $130 million worldwide off a $30 million budget. Collet-Serra’s been linked to a reimagining of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, a remake of Le Cercle Rouge, and possibly the 300 prequel Battle of Artemisia. Now Variety reports that he’s in talks to direct Warner Bros’ adaptation of the anime/manga Akira. You may recall that director Albert Hughes (The Book of Eli) left the project in late May and that Harry Potter screenwriter Steve Kloves handled the latest draft of the script. Warner Bros. is now envisioning the film as a $90 million tentpole. However, we previously reported that WB was planning on splitting the six-volume manga into two films so I’m not sure if the $90 million is supposed to cover both movies or just the first one.

However, even if Collet-Serra does come on board, Warner Bros. still faces the issue of casting the two lead roles of Tetsuo and Kaneda. The futuristic story has been reset from Neo-Tokyo to Neo-Manhattan and the broad overview of the story is that Tetsuo is the leader of a biker gang who has to stop his mutated friend Kaneda from destroying the city.

Kristen Stewart Has an Offer to Star in 'Akira,' Will She Accept?The 'Twilight' actress would take on the role of Ky Reed in Warner Bros.' adaptation of the Japanese anime classic.Source: THR

Will Kristen Stewart accept the offer to star in Akira?

Stewart’s camp is mulling an offer from Warner Bros. for the in-demand actress to join the cast of the adaptation of classic manga and anime in the role of Ky Reed.

The movie is set in a place called New Manhattan and follows two brothers, one the leader of a motorcyle gang, the other his younger brother, a young man with telekinetic abilities who becomes a dangerous weapon.

Tron: Legacy star Garrett Hedlund is in negotiations to play Kaneda, the gang leader, who teams up with Ky, a woman who is part of an underground movement to expose the government for turning orphans into living weapons. She may also possess some abilities herself.

Despite some reports saying Stewart is in advanced negotiations, sources say only an offer has been made at this stage, though the two sides will certainly engage one another and give dealmaking a go.

If a deal does materialize, this would be the third franchise for the actress, who has always garnered strong notices but became something of an accidental superstar when Twilight turned into a phenomenon (Breaking Dawn: Part 1 opens on Friday.) She is following that with another potential franchise in Snow White and the Huntsman which, in the race with Relativity’s Snow White project Mirror, Mirror, is looking like Lord of the Rings compared to Dungeons & Dragons. If Huntsman fulfills its promise, expect Stewart to appear in sequels.

Akira also is designed as a franchise, although it’s unclear whether it’s going to be two or three films.

Balancing the two tentpole series would certainly be something for her reps to figure out—if she decides she wants to do the movie.

“Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art.” - Andy Warhol